What I have learned in this life is you can never be ashamed of where you come from.

You put some Vaseline under your eyes at night and under your chin, and you put a little bit on your chest and you'll avoid stretch marks and I'll get you some Vaseline, you can change your oil and fry chicken with it, too, but you best make sure you have something.

All my life I've tried to hide my height. I was taller than everybody else and stood out, so I would slouch and try to hide it.

A degree on the wall, without labels on your back, is nothing.

Keep your dreams ALIVE. No matter how hard it gets, no matter how many people talk about you; they're going to throw dirt on you but that's alright, when they put you in that box (after your dead), they're going to put dirt on you some more, so that's okay - GO, don't be afraid, have NO FEAR.

I get a lot of flack from critics that my comedies are all over the place, my dramas are all over the place, they're schizophrenic - as if I don't know that!

I am so proud to be from New Orleans and to be one of those people who had been displaced. I wasn't there during that time, but that's where I come from, that kind of poverty, and I'm very, very proud of that because it's given me my history.